Chapter 912

Chapter 907 Inspiration for the Special Grant Fund

Locke gazed into the distance and saw many stone statues in this peculiar corridor. However, one of the statues, originally made of Golden Wheat, was split in two.

Locke said, “This is…”

The statue that should have been made of Golden Wheat was broken in the middle, with a crack appearing, as if it was about to break apart.

Throne Russell said, “That’s right. The reason I brought you here was to show you this. These stone statues are the masterpieces of the potion makers from the Boundary Between Darkness and Light. You probably don’t know, but the Boundary Between Darkness and Light was once a holy land of potion-making.”

“There was a group of golden potion makers here who brewed potions that granted immortality to all things.”

“They created this corridor. Faced with the inevitable decline of the Boundary Between Darkness and Light, all efforts seemed futile, and all efforts seemed to push fate in this direction.” “

Therefore, the ancestors of the Boundary Between Darkness and Light decided to leave something for their descendants.”

Locke suddenly realized something.

“They’ve placed the Spirit Marks within these statues.”

Locke took a half-step back, utterly astonished.

He now realized that the entire corridor wasn’t made of ordinary bricks or so-called magical materials, but rather constructed from Spirit Marks.

In other words, every blade of grass and every tree in this corridor was a Spirit Mark.

The stone pillars were Spirit Marks, the bricks beneath his feet were Spirit Marks, and even the corridor itself was a Spirit Mark.

Locke realized that he and the Russell Throne had likely entered a Spirit Mark within a corridor called the [Corridor of the Past].

This technique was truly breathtaking.

‘Ordinary Spirit Marks couldn’t possibly have an infinite lifespan, but this corridor seemed to have become a place, as if it had become eternal,’

Locke thought.

‘The interior of this corridor seems to reflect all things and everything. Is this really something a potion master could do? It’s as if a world hall formed from the condensed principles of planes has been created here. There are even many lifelike, seemingly real divine beasts here, and these phantoms of divine beasts can interact with me.’

‘What a magical place.’ “

And the stone pillar of Golden Wheat has a crack, does this mean I’ve reverted to a part of Golden Wheat? The Russell Throne summoned me here, it must be related to this.”

The Russell Throne said, “Locke, your mutated golden foxtail grass should indeed have revived the key Golden Wheat. Your ability to create an effective reversion evolution truly surprises me.”

Locke replied to the Russell Throne, “According to the article I published on the All-Encompassing Exchange, and another article by Yunze, these two articles have clearly explained the principle of my reversion evolution. It’s a miracle achieved using Yellow Mushroom Extract and two specially developed enchanted sword systems.” “

But Yellow Mushroom Extract has limitations. First, this magical element must not conflict with the magical plant itself. In fact, only one-third of the currently known magical plants can use Yellow Mushroom Extract, and the principle of Yellow Mushroom Extract’s reversion evolution is simply because it can disrupt the mechanism that inhibits plant factor expression.”

“This is inherently a limitation of its atavistic evolution.”

Throne Russell nodded and said, “I understand. So, that’s why I called you here. I’m asking you, Locke Augustine, have you decided on your application for the top-tier grant at Mount Golden Crown?”

Locke paused, as Throne Russell suddenly changed the subject.

“Not yet.”

Throne Russell smiled with satisfaction.

“Then you’re in trouble. There shouldn’t be many months left until the first application review in your institute, right? If you miss it, you’ll have to wait until next year.”

“Waiting another year means I might have to compete with my best friend for a spot; a bunch of people vying for one place is exhausting.”

“Isn’t your Yunze Wetland’s magical plant crystallization technology route quite popular lately? You’ve won some championships, secured some projects, and published some articles in various wizarding areas of the Eastern Boundary.”

“The wizards who have achieved this are still gaining recognition. Since it’s so popular, why don’t you join in?”

Locke bowed to the Russell Throne and said, “The magical plant crystallization technology is excellent. However, I have my own pace; continuing my research on ancestral evolution is more in my own interest.”

The Russell Throne nodded.

“Good. Your own pace is most important. Don’t change your behavior arbitrarily because of momentary greed.”

“That would bring disaster.”

Locke asked, “Your Majesty, you seem to have doubts about the magical plant crystallization technology, and your evaluation is not as high as that of the general wizarding public.” Throne

Russell put his hands behind his back, curled the corners of his mouth, and smiled, “Don’t talk nonsense. On the contrary, I really want to get the research data of this technology research route for my few good-for-nothing researchers.”

“The reason I asked you to stick to your own pace is simply because I don’t want you to steal the opportunities from my disciples and grand-disciples. The fruits of a technology research route are limited. If people like you pick them all, won’t my good-for-nothing disciples and grand-disciples have nothing to eat?”

Locke was speechless for a moment after being choked by Throne Russell’s words.

He hesitated, then said casually to Throne Russell, “Your Majesty, you jest. Someone of your status could feed his people with a little something slipping through your fingers. How could you possibly think I would stand in the way of your students? Among your students are many true geniuses, far more capable than I am.”

Throne Russell glanced at Locke in surprise.

“You are surprisingly humble, not arrogant at all.”

“Back to the point. Everyone has their own role.”

“That’s all.”

Throne Russell said, “If you really want to insist on developing the path of atavism, then take a look at this spell of mine. This is just a model of a second-circle spell.”

Throne Russell extended his right hand, palm up, and instantly a green foxtail grass appeared in his palm. This green foxtail grass gradually turned golden, clearly undergoing some kind of atavism. The

green foxtail grass in Throne Russell’s hand maintained a state of being partly golden and partly green.

“Did you see it clearly?”

Locke realized that the spell model was open source and not hidden. He stretched out his right hand. Locke originally thought that he could not directly copy the spell model.

But his pupils suddenly dilated, and all the spell gestures and spell models from when Russell Throne cast the spell suddenly appeared in his mind.

Those spell models seemed to have always existed in his mind.

How could this be?

The next moment, Locke chanted a spell, and the spell model appeared in his hand. The green foxtail grass that had fallen in front of Russell Throne moved to Locke’s front, migrating towards the state of the second-circle magical plant, the golden foxtail grass. Seeing

this, Russell Throne’s pupils narrowed slightly. He nodded and said, “Not bad, so-so. In our Floating-Dark Borderlands, it’s only above average.”

Russell Throne stood aside in silence, patiently waiting for Locke to fully master the spell model.

‘Only a Sun Ring Wizard can resonate with the Corridor of the Past through magical power. Otherwise, this corridor is just an ordinary corridor to that wizard.’

‘Therefore, the prerequisite for the three-headed dog to deceive people is that the person is a Sun Ring Wizard. And if it is a Sun Ring Wizard, then naturally there is no need to fear being eaten by it. Otherwise, our Golden Dynasty would not have tolerated this three-headed dog running rampant here.’ “

Of course, there’s another possibility: someone with exceptionally high golden magic talent can resonate with this corridor. The higher the talent, the stronger the resonance. Locke Augustine, that guy’s talent is truly terrifying. Damn it, what are the people below doing? If someone like that were just an ordinary first-ring wizard, I could have just poached him.” “

He’s already a second-ring wizard, so I can’t bring myself to ask again.” “

He learned it after just one look at my [Golden Spell], even if he’s already a second-ring wizard… unbelievable.”

Locke’s golden spell was applied to the blue dog’s tail, trying to bring out the hidden golden magic power within it, causing it to undergo a reversion to its ancestral form.

“It’s different from what the outside world knows,” said Throne Russell. “The potions and breeding sciences in the Boundary Between Light and Darkness are indeed only so-so now, but that doesn’t mean they were bad in the past. And now we are also working hard to restore some ancient plants. This golden spell was one of the directions we worked on, but it was later abandoned.”

“This project was proposed by me and I wanted to hand it over to one of my students.”

A shadow appeared on Throne Russell’s brow.

“But later, he was imprisoned in the wizarding prison for allegedly betraying the academy’s information. He’s working there and using his remaining debts to atone for his crimes.”

“Because of his actions, my Golden Spell development project completely failed.”

“But according to my ideas, the Golden Spell can also revert to ancestral evolution in magical plants, perhaps allowing Golden Wheat to appear. I’ve seen your reversion method, and frankly, it’s not precise enough; it’s too cumbersome. Golden Wheat was originally a Sun Ring-level magical plant. Even if reversion occurs using your method, it’s just a reversion from a Golden Foxtail Grass to Golden Wheat.”

“But it’s still just an ordinary second-ring magical plant.”

“And Golden Foxtail Grass is already a second-ring magical plant. This has greatly diminished the prospects of your research.”

“But if I use my Golden Spell to enhance your reversion evolution, perhaps I can create a more precise reversion… reversion evolution.”

Locke looked up at the Russell Throne, wondering why the Russell Throne chose him, why he gave him such a good project.

And this person was neither related to him nor his mentor.

If the expectation was that someone could complete the Golden Wheat reversion project, then he could simply release such a good project to more outstanding wizards.

Even if they were eyeing him, he could simply discuss with the Golden Crown Mountain and borrow him to participate in the project.

Locke’s mind stirred slightly, and he asked, “May I ask, Throne Russell, why did the student who was originally in charge of this project betray the interests of the Golden Dynasty and sell information to others?”

Throne Russell said, “He thought I gave him an impossible project. He was very angry about it, and he felt that he was doing something meaningless.”

“He is also a wizard from the Advanced Institute of Truth, and he thinks that I prevented him from leaving the station. And I told him that it was only because he was useless. So, he stopped focusing on research and spent his days thinking about crooked ways and shortcuts.”

Throne Russell said with his hands behind his back, “I don’t like people taking shortcuts.”

Locke smiled bitterly.

So that’s how it is. No wonder he used this method to deal with him. It turns out that there’s a problem with this project. It seems that this project has not made any progress for some time.

And Throne Russell obviously wouldn’t waste time on a second-level project.

Locke recalled the spell model he had just learned.

“It’s… a matter of time. Casting that spell model requires a vast amount of data on the sunrise and sunset trajectories of the boundary between light and darkness. Those trajectories are the foundation of this golden magic.”

“This golden spell can strengthen the golden magic within a magical plant, forcibly compelling its hidden golden magical power to manifest, thereby forcing the full release of its latent golden magical potential, ultimately leading to a reversion to ancestral evolution.”

This was a different technical route from his own reversion to ancestral evolution.

However, the two could be combined. Locke considered this, and indeed, it might create a spell with higher positioning accuracy, capable of reverting to ancestral evolution and creating even more powerful magical plants.

This idea clearly inspired the Russell Throne to launch his Golden Spell Project 2.0.

But the biggest challenge of this project was the tedious collection of the special sunrise and sunset trajectories of the boundary between light and darkness.

This inevitably required a huge amount of time.

This was probably why the student from the Russell Throne had a mental breakdown.

Because this kind of data collection simply couldn’t be completed in less than a century.

But the Russell Throne, who had been calm and methodical, was likely working on the project with different students.

After all, it was only about twenty students to him. He

could simply wait for the twentieth student to finish. However

, after witnessing his own regression to a more primitive state, he immediately became impatient and thought waiting for a dozen more students to complete the project was foolish.

This led him to come to him personally.

He wanted his help to complete the project.

Locke pondered whether Bruce Wizard had asked him about his relationship with the Russell Throne and mentioned how protective the Russell Throne had been of him.

So that was the reason.

The Russell Throne looked at Locke and asked again, “Hmm? You’ve been standing there for a long time. Can you give me an answer? Should we try this project?”

(End of Chapter)